City of Gods
by The Walking Stranger
Summary: Stricken by boredom, Ryuk decides to drop his Death Note in the human world again. Its new owner: A competitor in the Sekirei Plan named Minato Sahashi. Will the Ashikabi of the North use the Notebook to gain an advantage and save the ones he loves?


**A/N: Well, I've finally done it. I have taken two of my favorite magna/anime and combined them. It was an idea that just came to me after rewatching Death Note's final episode. On a much more important note, I would like to that my good friend and writing partner Phen0m20, who helped out with certain portions and provided vividness.**

**XXXXXX**

Boring.

That word described everything perfectly to the Shinigami known as Ryuk. The world he lived in was boring. The other Shinigami were boring. Life itself at the moment was utterly boring. His frozen veneer betrayed him and told everything and everyone a lie. Smiling was the very last thing he would be doing right now.

"Too long..." He said to himself as he sat on a ledge, looking out into the grayness of the Shinigami world. Everything was dull and dark. Without looking away from the endless bleakness, he moved his left arm down and wrapped his long bony fingers around the Death Note that was truly his. Like always, since he was not currently using it, it was secured to his waist by a chain and a lock that resembled a cross. He unlatched it and opened it up. Bringing it up to his face, he rifled through the pages until he finally found the name he was looking for.

"Light Yagami." He turned away from the name he had written down so many years ago and gazed back at the somber atmosphere. "You were... very interesting, to say the least. Almost six years of your antics... You've intrigued me." Using his right arm, he reached over and grabbed the other Death Note he had taken all that time ago. His undivided attention focused on it. "Perhaps history should repeat itself. After all, nobody's got anything better to do..."

**XXXXXX**

It was not an easy time. Minato had finally found a window of opportunity and gotten out of Maison Izumo alone for a change. He needed to clear his head. Not two weeks ago, he was a regular person who had failed to get into university... twice. But now he was a competitor, an Ashikabi, in a game of the highest stakes called the Sekirei Plan. Three women had pledged to love him and be by his side forever, (he felt a little dirty with the fact that one of them was a little girl who couldn't be any older that nine or ten) and he had to watch them risk their lives for him almost everyday. And to top it all off, another Sekirei was haunting his dreams every night, shouting out that she was going to kill him.

His temples ached. He lowered his head and began rubbing them with his index and middle fingers. As he continued walking down the empty street he kept his eyes on the ground as he gently massaged his sore head. He kept his eyes on the concrete sidewalk, seeing nothing but grey until a black rectangle caught his eye. He stopped moving all together and stared down at it. Curiosity got the better of him and he picked it up. It was a notebook. The side he was looking at was blank, but when he turned it around he came across two words. His brilliant mind and education made it possible for him to read the text written in English.

"'Death Note'?" He read the writing out loud. He opened it to find more words in English. It took him a moment, but he finally read it. "'The person who's name is written in this Note shall die.'" He didn't believe this. It had to be a joke he had stumbled upon. That wasn't possible. It was more outrageous than MBI and the Sekirei Plan and everything else he had seen these past few weeks.

**XXXXXX**

Ryuk was glad that the evening air was clear, unlike the first time he came to the human world when the sky was filled with rain and lightning. He soared above the city, his black wings flapping every so often to keep him airbourne. He could feel his Death Note somewhere within the metropolis, but he could not seem to get a pinpoint location. But this was only a minor setback. His Shinigami eyes would assist him tremendously. He needed only to spot someone whose lifespan was invisible to his ever red sight. Suddenly, something caught his eye. He lowered himself down to a streetlight and settled on top of it. What he found was a teenage boy dressed in highly decadent clothing, and next to him was a man with wooden sandals and an orange scarf with a sword fastened to his waist. Both their life spans were visible to the Reaper, but what Ryuk found curious was that their deaths were set to occur at the exact same second. They were destined to die together. That was very interesting. And that aspect of it grew astronomically when three woman dressed almost as unusual as the two men walked up, and then all of five of them climbed into a stretch limo and drove off. This intensified Ryuk curiosity because two of the women had the exact same lifespan as the two males. The third one, who looked bored and tired and had what Ryuk thought was a tattoo on her forehead, had a different date of death.

Four people who knew each other were going to die at the exact same time. "That's extremely interesting!" Ryuk took a moment to remember what it was he was supposed to be doing, and he took to the sky again. The streets were basically empty, but he could feel himself closing in on his Notebook. Finally, after searching high and low, he happened upon someone who was Light's age when he had first obtained the Death Note. The human was looking at it in disbelief.

"There you are..."

**XXXXXX**

Minato continued to read the so-called rules written on the notebook. Each one was even more outrageous than the previous. This had to be some sort of joke. Out of nowhere he heard what sounded like a giant bird flying overhead of him. He looked up and saw... he didn't know what it was. But it fell from above, but came to a gentle landing right in front of him. Minato couldn't believe his eyes.

Whatever it was, it just barely fit the margin of humanoid. It had to be at least seven feet tall. It was dressed all in black, and was wearing heeled boots that matched. Its skin was deathly pale, with thick blue lips outlining a haunting grin. Black blots outlined its eyes. The arms and legs were abnormally thin and long. An earring with a short chain hung from its left ear. On its shoulders were groups of spikes made out of what seemed to be some kind of fabric. Around its waist was a metal belt, and fastened to it on the side was what appeared to be a book locked in a custom made cage with a cross on it.

The unholy pale-skinned humanoid creature, garbed in all black, stared daggers into the ronin's soul. The white's of the demon's eyes pulsed a bright, nightmarish red, sending wave after wave of chills down Minato's spine. He didn't dare move.

The demonic being slowly raised it's abnormally long arm, extending it's decrepit index finger to the notebook Minato regrettably had in his trembling, clammy grasp. "So," it began, speaking in a raspy, drawn out cackle. "I see you've found my notebook..."

The human looked at him and lost all the color in his face. Ryuk could almost taste the fear the Notebook's new owner was producing. He began shaking like a paint-mixer. He let out a childish scream, turned on his heels and ran away, throwing the Death Note away behind him.

"Heh heh. A runner eh?" Ryuk chuckled to himself as he watched the human known as Minato Sahashi recede into the distance. "Well sorry pal, but unfortunately, you still technically own the Death Note, so it looks like I'm following you." He walked over to the discarded Notebook and picked it up. His wings came out of his back and he took to the sky, searching for Sahashi.

**XXXXXX**

Minato ran for his life. He couldn't remember ever moving so fast or demanding so much from his body. Not even when he was being chased by the Lightning Twins did he move so. What ever that thing was, it was more frightening than any Sekrei or MBI weapon he had ever encountered. After sprinting for about two minutes, he paused to catch his breath near the mouth of an alley. As he panted there with his hands on his knees, he suddenly felt a very chilling sensation. Not cold, but unnerving. He heard a chuckle coming from the darkness of the alley to his left. He slowly turned his head and saw nothing but darkness. But then something came out of the darkness and landed just on the fringe of the light on the ground. It was that black notebook. He looked at it in horror and confusion, and then he heard that raspy cackle again. He looked back to the darkness and saw two shining red orbs in the air.

"It's yours," a raspy voice said from the direction of the floating balls of light. "Take it."

It didn't take the two year ronin long to figure out that it was that demon from earlier. He let out another scream and ran off as fast as his legs could physically allow. He ran and ran and ran until finally he came across a bench on the sidewalk and practically collapsed into it. He panted heavily, his eyes closed to save as much energy as possible. After regaining control over his breathing, he heard something without much weight land on the other side of the bench. He didn't want to look at what it was, but his neck seemed to move on its own. Much to his horror, it was that same notebook. He slowly looked upwards and saw the creature sitting on the top of the back part of the bench, one hand holding his head up. He was smiling at him with thick blue lips.

"I'm going to guess..." It started. "That you're just going to run again."

The ronin took off so quickly he left a cloud of dust and dirt behind him. He sprinted past his breaking point. He could feels his ribs telling him that he had to stop before he died of an aneurism. Finally his body couldn't take anymore and he collapsed onto his hands and knees. He stared at the ground, panting slowly and heavily. The burning sensation in his stomach slowly began to fade. His breathily gradually became more stable. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. But just as he did, he heard thr now familiar noise of something landing on the ground just below his head. He slowly opened his eyes. Right between his hands was the notebook. That could mean only one thing. He made his neck bend upwards to make his vision come across the smiling monster looking down at him.

"Like it or not," it began. "The Notebook is yours now, so you're stuck with it. And me as well."

Minato pushed himself up so that his body was resting solely on his knees and feet. He looked up at the creature's face with fear in his own. He clasped his hands together and literally begged, "Please don't kill me! I didn't mean to steal from you!"

Much to his shock, the creature began cackling in amusement. "Kill you? If I wanted to do that, I would has done it the first time I spotted you."

"You mean... You're not gong to severely punish me for taking what's yours?" He asked with a shaky voice.

"No," it said with a laugh. "I'm not going to do anything. I _wanted_ someone to pick it up."

"Do you want it back?" Minato asked frantically and desperately. The two year Ronin quickly extended his arm out to the notebook on the ground. He picked it up and raised his arm towards the creature, offering it its property back, which was vibrating as if it was in the middle of an earthquake due to Minato's frightened shaking. "H-here. Take-take it! It's yours after all." Minato didn't care if the thing standing before him was telling the truth about the pad of paper. All he knew was that it looked like it could kill him effortlessly, and probably would if provoked.

The creature looked at him with its unwavering grin in silence. Then the last thing Minato expected to happen became reality. The nightmarish being began cackling uncontrollably. It looked to the sky with amused rasps escaping his lips. Then it looked down to the ground and continued laughing so hard Minato thought it was going to be sick. Finally, the laughter stopped filling the atmosphere and the demon regained its composure.

"I don't want it back," it said to him in that ghoulish rasp of a voice. "At least not right now. Perhaps I should explain, Minato Sahashi. I am the Shinigami Ryuk."

"Ryuk," Minato parroted. "Shinigami?"

"That's right. A god of death. And that..." He again pointed at the notebook in Minato's slightly calmer hand. "... Is my Death Note. Don't be fooled by the outlandish writings. It's the truth."

"So... so the rules... People dying... It's all real?"

"As real as you and me. Now for a question of my own: are you going to use the Death Note?"

Minato looked down at the seemingly ordinary object. The answer was obvious. "No."

Ryuk chuckled. "Something tells me you're going to take that back fairly soon." He reached out and grabbed the Death Note. "It's been thirteen years since I first let my Notebook be dropped to this mostly boring world, and now my boredom has once again gotten the better of me. This whole little scenario you're in is... interesting." The freakish, forever-smiling reaper handed him back the black notebook. "Think about it."

Wings of black feathers prodded out of him and spread out to about a twenty foot span. He brought himself up so that he was a few feet off the ground and began following Minato as he made his way back to the Inn.

"Won't other people freak out when they see a Shinigami casually following me?" Minato asked with genuine curiosity.

"Don't worry about it," Ryuk answered. "When that Note touched the ground it became part of the human world, and with you being the first and currently only one to touch it, you're its owner and the only person who can see and hear me."

"So what you're telling me is that anyone who touches this notebook... will be able to see you?"

"Yes. You're a fast learner."

"Uh... thanks?" Minato made a mental note not to let any of his Sekirei come into contact with his newfound possession. They might freak out and attack Ryuk. Minato looked behind himself and eyed the other Death Note fastened to the Shinigami's waist. Minato wasn't sure if Ryuk would defend himself from a potential attack by using his own Death Note, but Minato didn't want to take that chance. He looked down to the normal looking everyday item. The power to save all the women he loved by the might of his own hand was literally resting in between his fingers. It was something he had to at least consider... But for the time being he simply secured it in one of the inner pockets of his jacket to keep it hidden and rather difficult to reach.

Eventually he made his way back to his home, but just as he was about to turn down the opening in the stone wall that led to the front door, he thought of something and paused. He looked back at Ryuk and his permanent grin.

"Am I going to have to hold the door open for you? That'd look rather strange..."

"That's another thing you shouldn't worry about Minato," he answered still hovering in the air. "Things in the human world can only touch me if I allow them to. I can walk through walls like they're less than fog."

Minato nodded his head once in understanding. He continued making his way towards the door. No sooner did he open it was he picked up into the almost crushing embrace of his first Sekirei.

"Minato! I'm glad you finally came back!" Musubi said as she hoisted Minato up into the air with her arms wrapped around him. "I was so worried that the woman in your dreams had hurt you, but she didn't!"

The remainder of her happy, and somewhat ditzy, rant was drowned out by an amused Ryuk. "I like this place already." Then he payed attention to the couple's lifespans and saw that, like the young man and the three people earlier, they were going to die simultaneously as well. Something strange and intriguing was going on, and the death god couldn't wait for even more events to unfold.

After a couple more confrontations from his Sekirei and a delicious meal cooked by his landlady, Minato retired to his room. Although before he ascended up the stairs Ryuk asked (or practically begged) him to grab a couple of apples for some reason. The Ashikabi didn't want to anger the god, so he obliged without question. As soon as he closed the door and passed the Shinigami the apple, Ryuk took a huge and desperate bite.

He let out a satisfied sigh. "Aaaaahhhh, juicy." He began wolfing the fruit down as if his life depended on it.

"Hey I just thought of something. How did you know my name earlier?" Minato asked as he sat down on his futon and pulled out the Notebook.

"It's my Eyes." Ryuk said briefly pausing from his snacking. He returned to chomping into the luscious red stimulant.

"Your eyes?" Minato didn't understand what that meant.

"Yes." He finished his apple and wiped his still grinning mouth with his right arm. "All Shinigami possess eyes that allow them to see a person's name and lifespan above their head. So I knew who you were the moment I laid eyes on you." He let out a cackle at his own little joke. "But a human how owns a Death Note can have the Eyes... Assuming they willingly make the deal."

"Deal? What deal? What would I have to do?"

"Easy; simply say you want Shinigami eyes and that you want to make the deal."

"That's it? Seems too easy for an ability like that. What's the catch? What would you get in return?"

"Nothing of material, you would simply cut the remainder of your life in half!"

Minato didn't like the sound of that. Plus he couldn't think of a situation where he would ever even have need or use of the Eyes. Why would he need them if he wasn't even going to use the Notebook? "I think I'll pass on that deal."

Ryuk shudder a laugh. "Well, I'm not surprised. The past owner of my Death Note didn't make the deal either, and he became a legend." He grabbed the second apple and began devouring it in the exact same manner as its predecessor.

Minato say the discussion as closed and moved on to another subject he wanted to converse about. "Ryuk, exactly how long are you going to stick around?"

"Until three things happen: The Death Note is destroyed or finished, you die, or you relinquish ownership of it." He finished gobbling down the apple and used his arm to once again wipe away any residue from his dark blue lips.

Minato thought about the last scenario. "What will you do if I give up the Notebook?"

"Well, I can already tell that something big is going down in this city... so if you give up the Death Note, I think I'll simply take it and drop it somewhere else in this place."

"Well then I guess I'll be keeping it for awhile." Minato said without hesitation. He knew that if another Ashikabi got their hands on the Notebook, they wouldn't hesitate to use it to eliminate other Sekirei, or even other Ashikabi. Minato knew that some of his fellow competitors were ruthless, shameless, soulless, and heartless. It was best if he had possession of the murderous Death Note.

"Okay then. That's fine by me. This house, and everyone in it, is incredibly unusual and intriguing."

Minato couldn't help but smile at that comment. "Yeah... I guess we are..."


End file.
